To boldly go
by Athenai89
Summary: The bond snapped and he felt utterly and complitely alone till he fixed his blue eyes into the lilac ones of his twin and he knew that, at least, they had each other. It's my very first story so please be kind! It'll be a Kirk/Spock and McCoy/OC
1. Chapter 1

"Jim, duck!"

The frantic yell pierced the still air. Without even thinking the young captain fell to the ground and rolled over to a massive boulder to his left, while a massive, yet primitive spear, passed the exact point where he had been standing less than ten seconds prior.

He propped himself up the boulder, heavily breathing, and scanned the area around him, trying to pinpoint the exact location of this primitive sniper and in the meantime looking for the young woman whose yell had just saved his life.

Panic started rising when, at the second and more thorough scan of the area, the petite figure of his XO still was out of his sight. Suddenly he was alerted of someone's presence by a rustling some meters to his right and immediately he drew the phaser, ready to fire on anything that could've come out those bushes.

"Shees, Jim! There is no need to be so melodramatic! Are you sure that old age hasn't caught up with you? I mean you weren't that jumpy some years ago!"

The Captain let his shoulders drop a little with relief. In front of him, bruised and battered but definitely alive, stood his XO and little twin sister.

"If I'm getting old so are you, so I really wouldn't point it out! And more over I really don't need two more brats to care for. Mine are a handful as they are so there is seriously no need to double the trouble."

The words were spoken teasingly and with a light undertone, but there was no mirth in the eyes of the young man. There could have been no mistake in claiming a deep affection between the two siblings.

"Jim, don't worry! I will not go anywhere! I love you and the children too much to leave this life!"

"I know Helena! But dammit this has been the first away-mission in months where both our presences where required and after the last fiasco, this mess wasn't what we needed! According to Starfleet this was supposed to have been a standard diplomatic mission. A couple of handshakes were supposed to be the very extent of it!"

Said woman simply remained silent: there was no need for words, memories were sufficient enough. Closing her eyes and blocking the noises from the planet she allowed herself to reminisce the events of that particularly gone wrong away-mission.

FLASHBACK

"_Your orders Captain are to secure the entrance of Poris IV in the Federation. Our information say that the Porisians are very friendly people. This should be easy enough for you. And, before I forget, in this particular case both you and Milady are required to beam down to the surface. Now Captain there is no need to argue: it is a pretty easy mission. You should both enjoy some respite and the kids will be fine aboard the Enterprise."_

"_I suppose I cannot say anything else than Yes Sir! I'll see you at the end of the mission. Kirk out. Security this is the Captain, you need to select a couple of Ensigns for an away-mission. Starfleet says it's a simple shake hands so phasers 1 should be enough."_

"_Yes sir! Ensigns Moralez and Jacksons will meet you in the Transporter's Room in 15 minutes. Giotto out."_

"_Milady gear up and put your best smile on! We're going to shake some hands! Kyle you have the conn!"_

_If they had known the outcome of the mission they would have definitely taken phasers 2 and not a couple of Ensigns but someone a little more experienced. And definitely they would have said something to their kids. But they hadn't known and they had trusted Starfleet with the information._

_They hadn't even finished to beam down that they were caught in the cross fire. Apparently the Porisians hadn't been exactly truthful with the Federation and the fact that the entire planet was in the middle of a civil war had escaped their minds during the diplomatic meetings. The two Ensigns didn't stand a chance. They didn't even have the time to draw their weapons that were killed. The instinct of survival kicked in for the two brothers who ducked out of the way and tried to crawl out of that damned field. It was absolutely useless to say that, with their luck, the communicators couldn't reach the ship and in their futile attempt to communicate they were found and kidnapped._

_They had remained hostages for more than two weeks in which they had been tortured savagely with drugs that, obviously started several allergic reactions in both of them resulting in scaringly long and painful seizures for the Captain._

_Finally after 19 days the Enterprise had been able to locate them and beam them back up, where they spent more than a month trying to overcome the nasty effects of their staying on the planet, while the 'fleet solved the conflict on the planet._

_Needless to say their kids had been scared out of their minds and it took them more time to heal the psychic scars of their children than the physical scars of their own. The 'fleet, represented by Pike who was completely pissed with the Admiralty for sending them in that hell, thoroughly apologized and from that moment on they went back to split the away-mission so they weren't planet side together._

_For, what it felt like, the millionth time both the Kirk twins wished with all their hearts that the loves of their lives and all of their friends hadn't vanished out of thin air more than 5 years prior._

END OF FLASHBACK

Helena snapped out of her reverie when a loud crash sounded too much close to them for their taste. This mission had gone exactly like that mission so many months ago, and she knew that Jim was going to make Starfleet grovel for their mistake. The only perk this time was that they had been down alone, so nobody was dead, yet.

For the first time in all her life the young Commander let fear overcome her and she sank to her knees clutching her head in her hands.

"Lena, honey! Please don't give up on me now! I know our life has thrown some serious shit at us, especially in the last five years, but we have overcome worse together in the past and we can do it again. Just don't give up on me please!"

Sobs were rocking the gentle body but after a minute they eventually dried out and the young woman lifted her head with a fiery look in her eyes.

"You're perfectly right Jim! We have overcome worse, as long as we are together there is nothing we can't do! After all we are Kirks: we don't believe in no-win scenarios!"

This brought a smile to the young Captain's face, a smile unfortunately short lived because the primitive sniper that they hadn't been able to locate had come back with more of his primitive buddies, apparently determined to drive them out of their hiding.

Having realized that they were not safe where they stood, and cursing for the umpteenth time the fact that his former Vulcan First Officer was missing in action, Kirk whirled around and started scanning the area again, looking for a way out. The solution to their problems presented itself in the form of a mini-canyon right in front of them. It was a big risk to take 'cause they didn't know whether or not that tunnel would lead them into a trap, but Captain Kirk was famous, if not even infamous, for leaping before looking. With this in mind he gently nudged his sister's shoulder and wordlessly and began stealthily led the way to the shelter. He knew, without looking back, that Helena was right behind him. They had always been close, being twins and all, but in the last six years their relationship had grown more and more till it was impossible, even for them sometimes, to know if something was one twin's or the other's doing.

The canyon wasn't that far ahead, but the fact that they were crawling on all fours, made the way altogether longer than they expected. Finally they made to the entrance, without so much as some scrapes on hands and knees, and they wasted no time to get further into the cave. Luckily for them, after narrowing for a bit the passage opened up again and led them into a labyrinth of passages. Choosing one they followed it till they exited in a cave, with higher ceilings than the rest; in the middle of this natural shelter laid a pool of crystalline water. Giving thanks to every deity they knew they ran to the water in order to quench their thirst.

"If Leonard were here he would have yelled to no end at our stupidity! With our amount of allergies we shouldn't have rushed to drink this water!"

"I know! Bones would have had a fit! But I wasn't going to survive the locals just to die of dehydration before the Enterprise can beam us up!"

The words were spoken with a light tone but both of their eyes betrayed the hurt in talking about these matters. After six years the fact that all of the Senior Crew, plus the CMO and the CEO of the first Enterprise was still missing in action, was a sore spot for both of the twins. Nobody knew what had happened and the Admiralty had given them only six months to try and find them, and after that they ruled them all missing in action presumably dead and that was that. They tried everything in their power to have an extension of time and forces but the 'fleet had been immovable. When they had been given the Enterprise again for another five-years-mission, they welcomed the possibility to explore again, always hoping that, by sheer luck, they would have been able to find them again. So far the five-years had almost passed and still there was no sign of them. They knew that the odds weren't in favor but they couldn't bring their selves to stop hoping.

Once they had settled in the cave, they had unrolled the thermo-pad, with which they had luckily beamed down, and they had eaten a little from the rations they had with them, Kirk took out his communicator and tried to hail the ship.

"Enterprise, Kirk here. Do you read me? Enterprise come in please!"

His efforts were met with nothing but static.

"The Enterprise doesn't expect us to call back for at least another twelve hours and moreover we don't have signal down here, nor anywhere on this damn planet! There is nothing we can do for now. The only things that's keeping me sane is that the kids aren't expecting us back tonight so they aren't going to worry."

Helena could do nothing if not wholeheartedly agree with the thought of the kids not panicking because they hadn't beam up.

"Well Captain! There is nothing we can do for now. We can't go outside or we will become target practice for the locals and the Enterprise is out of our reach. Why don't we take advantage of the fact we are alone together for the first time in years, we make a fire and we swop stories like we used to do when we were younger?"

"If you put it like this Milady, who am I to turn down such a beautiful suggestion from my beautiful XO? Let's start the fire first and then we can go down the memory lane together. It has been far too long indeed since the last time we have been able to do something like this, and I have thoroughly missed it!"

Starting the fire took them no time and after they had made sure that they weren't going to be ambushed without them knowing Jim seated himself on the thermo-pad and Helena put herself between his legs with the thermo-blanket to keep them warm.

"Well, our birthday is coming up, and this year we will have to tell the kids the story of Grandpa George and his heroic sacrifice to save his wife and kids for the big, bad and bold Romulan from the future."

"Do we have to Helena? I know they are super smart but they aren't even six, I don't think they are old enough to hear that story!"

"I know Jim, but I'd rather tell them the story myself that discover that someone a little too eager told them the story with a quantity of misreading that will lead only to bigger misunderstandings. And you are right, they are super smart so it's only fair that we tell them the truth. After all at their age you and I had seen, heard and done, worst things."

"You are trying to make me do the logical thing! Sneaky girl, you know I can't resist the pull of logic! Anyhow I wouldn't cite us as the best example for our kids, you know how messed up we are, or at least we were…but I suppose it is only natural considering what we have experienced."

Without words Helena took his brother's hand in hers and together they dove in the midst of their past, searching in their memories for the one that wasn't theirs: the story of their births seen through the eyes of their mother.


	2. Chapter 2

_With wide eyes Winona Kirk watched as her husband steered the USS Kelvin towards the bigger ship and watched, without really seeing, the Kelvin explode not destroying completely the other ship but crippling it enough so that the shuttles could go to warp and escape from the battlefield._

_Her mind was reeling and she couldn't wrap it onto the fact that her husband wasn't coming home. That he left her with a newborn baby, that he hadn't even seen but he had named. A baby that he was never going to see. She was alone in the world, she just wanted to die. Familiar numbness and dark started to surround her when a sharp pain jolted her back to reality._

"_Oh no! This is not possible! How could have we not seen it!"_

_What were they saying? What they didn't see? What was happening?_

_Suddenly baby Jim was yanked from her arms; with a feral growl, that had nothing human, Winona tried to have him back but the nurse had already taken him away._

"_Winona we need you to concentrate and to push again!" Push again? Why? She just had a baby, why did she need to push again? "We have made a huge mistake all of this time! Do you remember that we told you that the child had a very strong heartbeat and some strange readings? Well that was because you were carrying twins…"_

"_Twins? That's not possible? How in the world could you have missed it? Tell me now!"_

_The only thing she received in answer were the sheepish grins of all the medical team. Another jolt of pain brought her back to reality, she needed to get the other baby out and then she would deal with everything else. Right now she needed to push!_

_The moment that the other child came to the word, a girl this time, Winona knew something was terribly wrong with her baby girl. While Jim had cried and wailed like any normal child, this baby girl, so strikingly resembling her father and her twin brother, didn't utter even the smallest sound._

"_What is happening? What is wrong with her? Why isn't she crying?"_

_The sad faces of the medical staff told her the truth even before they had a chance to say it out loud. Her baby girl was not going to make it. The thought of it broke what was left of her already broken heart. She had just lost the love of her life and her baby boy was likely to have had some problems due to the fact that he was born two months premature and in an escape pod. She couldn't lose her baby girl to. Granted that she didn't know of her existence till the last minute, now that she had seen her she wasn't willing to give her up._

_Winona wasn't one to believe that a supernatural being could make things right, but in that moment she prayed every deity she knew so that her baby girl could survive._

_Someone, in the deep space, heard the desperate prayer and decided to answer it. In the flurry of activity around her bed Winona saw a light appear in front of her. Out of that light a petite and beautiful woman appeared: she was wearing a stunning low-cut white dress. She had long black silky hair and sparkling green eyes. When she smiled down to Winona the light in the room inexplicably doubled._

"_Do not fear Winona, I haven't come here to harm you. I simply want to help you."_

"_Can you help my baby daughter? Our medical team can't do anything to save her and I cannot bear to lose her too. Pleas save her, I'm willing to do anything to repay you!"_

"_There is no need for you to repay me because what I'm about to do you might not like. I come from another universe, a parallel universe if you want. Over there I was the Queen of a thriving planet, but a plague happened and the famine ensued. My people were all killed and I'm the last of my species. I'm willing to give up my role and therefore my power and life-force as Queen to your baby daughter so she can live. The only catch is that, in this universe she will have to take my place as Queen of my people."_

"_But won't you die if you give her life force to my daughter? And if you are from a parallel dimension and you give her your role, doesn't this mean that someone in this universe will already be the Queen?"_

_Winona knew she wasn't making much sense with her questions and she also knew that pointing this things out might eventually lead this being to withdraw her offer, but she couldn't allow some other being to die, even if it was to save her daughter._

_A soft laugh brought her back to reality, where she looked into the smiling face of the mysterious woman._

"_Thank you for your concern for my health, it is most appreciated! But you don't need to worry about my well being. I am human as you are with the only difference that I have the powers of the Queen of Elysia Prime. If I give up that role I will revert back to my human form and I can live to the extent of my human life with the man I chose to marry a long time ago and that will not suffer growing old while I remain young and pristine. As for the other matter of concern, don't fret. Apparently in this universe the Queen of Elysia Prime had died without heirs, so there isn't a Queen here. She will be the only one and when she will be of age to claim her throne, nobody will say anything, moreover they will welcome her as the deity she will be."_

_The grief-stricken woman could only openly stare at the young apparition that was offering her a new life for a baby girl, her baby girl, she didn't know existed. She knew that, if she allowed this stranger to give her life and power to her daughter, the girl will likely be an outcast for the rest of her life. She will stand out in the crowd but she will live. There is no comparison and Winona knows she will take the offer with open arms and she will do her best to make the life for their two kids easier._

_Smiling for the first time in what feels more that is really has been Winona looked the apparition square in the eyes and with that look she conveyed a subtle threat, implying that she will hunt her down to the end of time and space if only her baby girl was to be hurt._

_Laughing softly the young woman acknowledges the threat and part of her light passes on to the little bundle resting on Winona's stomach. Enveloped in the light the girl starts to change: the blond strays of hair turned inky black and the electric-blue eyes that she shared with her brother turned lilac without any explanation. Some light lingered onto her back and two mini wings appeared as well as a mini-tail._

"_Wings and tail will manifest themselves fully when she will reach full maturity but when she'll feel threatened they will come out momentarily. I hope you will have a long a prosperous life Winona Kirk. Stay strong and don't let this put you down. I can't unveil the future for you, but I'll tell you this: things are bound to get worse before getting better, but if you'll stay strong there will be a bright future even for you!"_

"_Wait! What is your name? You saved my daughter and, if it's alright with you, I would like to give her your name…but I don't know what it is!"_

_For the briefest time a new emotion played on the beautiful features: "I am truly touched and grateful that you wish to name your child after me: I am called Heleiana, but everybody call me Helena."_

"_Heleiana…that's a beautiful name, perfect for a queen. Thanks Helena! I will remember you forever and cherish the precious gift you have bestowed on me today!"_

_And with that the mysterious girl was gone and Winona never saw her again but, as promised, she remembered Helena and she cherished the gift. In the years to come she would discover exactly how difficult it was to raise a girl with the power to kill an entire city, but she never regretted her choice not even once._

"Well this is the first example of so many Kirkian quirks we both suffer don't you think Helena?"

"Oh c'mon! I know you! Even after all these years you're just sore that you didn't have an exciting birth as I had! That's why your personality evolved in the cocky bastard you are now!"

Even if the words were derogative Jim could feel the deep love and affection behind them, so he let it slide.

"But, you know, who would have thought that the Heleiana that saved your life that day was exactly your counterpart from the same parallel universe that Spock Prime comes from! I mean how many possibilities there are?"

Helena simply smiled. She remembered perfectly the surprised look her brother sported when he had approached her after Delta Vega. In the dump-information mind-meld he shared with the alternate Spock he had seen the woman that saved her life the day of her birth and Spock had told him that she was James T. Kirk's sister. Not twins but blood sister nonetheless that the Queen of Elysia Prime had selected to carry on the royal line. When they discussed it they got to the conclusion that it was fate that played with their life and that whoever the woman was it didn't matter because she saved this universe's Helena's life.

It had been painful to tell Spock Prime that she was the Helena of his universe, or at least part of here, but the look of gratitude the received from him was worth the pain of connecting themselves with their counterparts katras.

Following an unspoken pact between them the Kirk twins never told the truth to Winona. First they would have had to tell her about Spock Prime and she didn't have the security clearance to access that information, second they figured she didn't need to know the truth about who was the spectacular being that saved her daughter's life that day. It didn't change the fact so they didn't bother to share it.

"Well we definitely had a rocky start in life don't you think? Being born in an escape pod while your father blows himself up into a massive romulan ship rocks, don't you think?"

"Oh well we are Kirks my dear sister, we never do things half ways! Do you remember what happened the day mom married Frank?"

"How do you think I could ever forget that? You managed to blow up half the reception in an attempt to crash a wedding with a man you couldn't stand! And we were only four! And it was the first time my wings and tail got out in the open; apparently I knew you were in danger and had to protect you!"

"Oh c'mon! Cut me some slack! You hated the man as well! Plus I was in danger! Frank was sooooo pissed that I really thought he was going to kill me! And I knew you had fun! I was in your head same as I am now, and I know amusement from you when I feel it!"

"Ok! I'll give you that! I cannot lie to you if you play the mind-reading card! But refresh my memory, what the hell really happened?"

Wordlessly the young Captain extended one hand for his sister to take and together they dove into the memories again.


	3. Chapter 3

_Winona was looking in a mirror trying to decide if the woman in the mirror was really her. The young lady in a white dress that was looking back at her couldn't really be Commander Winona Kirk._

_Five years prior she had sworn off men: the love of her life had blown himself up to save her and her two newborn children, so it was only normal she didn't want to remarry._

_After five years though she knew that she couldn't go on like this much more._

_When she had come back from space the first thing she had done was to get his eldest son, George Samuel Kirk, and to move herself and the children back to Iowa. She didn't want to stay in San Francisco, because she didn't think the city safe enough to raise her children, especially Helena._

_So she went back to her hometown, Riverside, where she took a job at waitressing in the local diner, and she waited for the money Starfleet had promised to pay. Money that never got to her. After a couple of months she requested they paid her but the 'fleet procrastinated it for so long that after four years they told her they couldn't issue the money anymore._

_That left her with the meager pay of a waitress and three children to raise. Everything would have been ok if not for the fact that little Jimmy suffered from any allergy known to man and possibly some more, so the hospital bills, due to allergic reactions, were more than she could afford to pay._

_So she enlisted to Starfleet in order to keep the food on the table and a roof over their heads, with the feeble hope that she would have been given a planet side assignment, but the 'Fleet had other plans so she was assigned to a new planet that joined the Federation. She had been off planet for less than six months when complete chaos ensued back in Riverside: her parents died in a car crash leaving her three children completely alone in the big house. Thankfully Sam was old enough to keep in line his younger siblings and Helena was more than capable to handle the tornado of life that was her twin, so they weren't dead when she managed to get home. When she was faced with this new challenge she simply knew she couldn't go back to space like this. The 'fleet, in the person of Christopher Pike, a good friend of her late husband, managed to get her an assignment planet side, for at least six months. _

_She moved back to Riverside and while the kids were at school she worked from home. A couple of months passed in this way when, completely unexpected, she met Frank. They hit it off right away and for the first time in more than five years Winona felt more like a woman than a mother or a Commander._

_After four months of dating Frank sank to one knee and asked her to marry him: she knew she didn't love him, at least not with the blinding passion with which she loved George, but she knew she had some affection for the man. They were good together and he seemed to have developed a connection with the children saying that he was eager to call them his children._

_She knew with a blinding clarity that nobody could replace her George, but the man had a solid income, a good past and they could have a passable future together. Plus Sam and Jim needed a father figure and Frank seemed the best choice._

_So she said yes and after little less than two months she was looking at herself in the mirror wondering if she wasn't just cheating herself with this choice._

"_Mommy, why do you marry Frank? Don't we love you enough?"_

_A young voice interrupted her musings. She glanced down to look into the eyes of her Jimmy, so similar to George that her heart clenched at that sight, who was worryingly chewing his bottom lip._

"_No sweetie! Of course you love me enough! As much as I love you that's for sure! But Frank is a nice guy and I'm sure he loves you as well as I. When I have married him we can be a big happy family like all of your friends!"_

_Apparently that thought didn't appease the child as she hoped because Jimmy flinched away like she physically hit him._

"_He doesn't love us! He looks at Helena in a funny way that I don't like! And I don't think he is a nice guy! And we don't need to be like the other families. I talked to Lena and Sammy and we are happy just with you!"_

_Of course, she should have known that all of her children were on the same boat. Jimmy was the most outspoken, even for a five years old, so it was the logical choice as an ambassador._

_Winona frowned at the words spoken by Jim, but then dismissed them as a product of a misplaced fear of abandonment. Smiling softly she bent down to reach his little hand and squeezed it lightly._

"_Don't worry big guy I'll never abandon you! C'mon go find your sister and your brother because we need to go as the ceremony is starting. If you all behave well you can have a big slice of the wedding cake, with lots of chocolate!"_

_When his eyes lit up she knew she had won; thankfully chocolate was one thing neither Jimmy nor Helena –who was as bad as her twin concerning the allergies, but she managed a little bit better due to her particular physique- were allergic to and that made her life really easy!_

_Once she had gathered the children she started to walk downstairs to get the ceremony started. After the vows she and Frank were proclaimed husband and wife, though she insisted in keeping her late husband's surname for her and the children as well, all of their guests moved to the reception. _

_For a while everything went exceptionally well, so she started to relax. In doing so she missed the glances that her new husband threw at her daughter and the mischievous glints in the twins' eyes._

_Halfway through the reception many things happened all at once. _

_First Frank excused himself in order to go to the restrooms and passing by he ruffled Helena's hair earning a murderous glance both from Sam and, surprisingly, from Jimmy. On his way back to the table he stopped to kiss Helena on the cheek and that set both her brothers off._

_Less than five minutes later Frank had cake all over his face and hair and Jimmy was standing nearby with his most angelic smile on his features. Before Winona could do anything he had strolled to little Jimmy with full intention of punishing him only to trip on a toy car left conveniently in the way._

_Looking back Winona knew that she should have recognized in that moment that Frank was a no good and that he didn't love her children, but in that moment she was so pissed herself that she decided to take her new husband's side. _

_Knowing he had the blessing of his new bride Frank lounged for Jim in order to punish him physically and brutally. _

_Before he could even lay a finger on the boy two things happened at once: first Helena paled, than snarled – Winona would have remembered for years the fear that had coursed her veins when she heard her little girl produce that sound – and lounged herself onto Frank baring teeth, a sharp tail and two sets of wings. Second half the reception literally exploded, thanks to Sam apparently, successfully stopping Frank from harming Jim and noticing the weird transformation of Helena._

_After they managed to put out the fire they decided to call it a day and to retire. Once in their new house, a farm outside Riverside, she severely scolded her children and made them apologize to Frank, who didn't seem too pissed._

_Their little established routine lasted only a couple of more months before Winona was called back off planet on assignment. This time she took it without hesitation knowing her children would stay with Frank. She dismissed the frightened cries with which the children saw her off and she definitely missed the strange glint in Frank's eyes. If she had noticed that she probably wouldn't have gone off planet, but she didn't and she embarked the USS Ana Sofia without so much as a backward glance leaving her children to the worst years of their lives. _

"Do you really think that mother would have stayed if she had seen the look in Frank's eyes?"

The question escaped the Captain's lips in a voice so soft that his sister knew he really hadn't meant to ask it. She also knew that there was only one possible answer to a question like this: "Of course she would have stayed honey! She told us herself!"

Maybe there was just a bit too much conviction in Helena's voice but she knew they both had to believe that Winona Kirk loved her children otherwise they would seriously have trouble getting out of bed.

"Yeah, you're right! Of course she would have stayed! Sorry but reminiscing that period always brings doubts in me. After mom went off planet he was so pissed that he beat us till we were more dead and alive. And as the years went by he didn't stop."

Helena closed her eyes remembering those eight years in which Frank had been in their lives. Their mother spent the vast majority of those years in deep space so she knew nothing of the brutality that her husband was bestowing on her babies. They really tried to tell her but when Frank made clear that any attempt to tell their mother would result into more beatings they desisted.

Sam, being the oldest by four years tried everything in his power to keep the attention of Frank off his little siblings, especially off Helena, but none of them was safe in that house. Even after almost twenty years they never talked about it and they only told their partners once begging them not to talk about it ever again. The beatings and the abuses grew steadily worse until, after a particular rough beating, Sam ended up in the hospital. Even then Frank managed to get himself off the hook by saying that Sam had been clumsy and had slipped off the stairs.

After this Sam – being sixteen and legally an adult - fled, promising to come back and get the twins once he was back on his feet and settled, but neither Jim nor Helena believed him for one minute.

Since Sam was gone the twins had to endure double the beatings from Frank plus the grief and sorrow of their mother over the loss of her oldest son. When she went back to space again they decided they weren't going to fly off the radar so they started to badmouth their stepfather every possible occasion.

"Do you remember the time I drove dad's antique car off a cliff?"

"How could I forget? We have been mind-linked since we were born! I felt your excitement, even though I always thought you had overdone it when you said _I'm James Tiberius Kirk_ to that officer!"

"Oh c'mon it was the first big rebellion of my life! Plus my name is such a mouthful that it really sounded like a good idea at that moment! And again, you're the one to talk! If there's one of us that went overboard with Frank I would say it was you…don't you remember what you did?"

With that remark Helena had suddenly found an interest spot in the dirt in front of them, but Jim knew she was reliving the episode in her head and with a slight chuckle he relaxed his stance and joined his XO in the memory.


	4. Chapter 4

_Since the day Sam had fled things had grown steadily worse for the twins. At twelve years they both knew that the way they were treated wasn't a fair one, but they still didn't know how to get themselves out of that situation._

_Jim was especially worried because till that moment Frank had restrained himself from Helena because he thought she was too small and Sam, or even Jim at some point, had offered a valid alternative, but the young Kirk knew it was only a matter of time before the idiot decided he wasn't satisfied with just Jim and started to go after his baby sister. They thought over and over a plan to escape as well since they both knew that Sam wasn't going to come back for them, but as two twelve years old, with a list of medical problems more than a km long, they knew they couldn't go that far._

_Trying to escape they stayed with Frank another six months during which Helena had to endure the sight of his beloved brother on the brink of death, due to the beatings, more times than she cared to remember. After a particular savage beating, done while that monster was completely drunk, while Jim was lying in their small bed with every inch of his skin covered in bandages and with a faint pulse and shallow breathing, Helena simply knew that she wasn't going to stand this anymore._

_It wasn't fair that Jim sacrificed his life for her: she knew she was stronger than him. Their mother had told them the story of the alien woman that saved her life and for some time she had experienced these weird dreams that told them who she really was and what she was capable to do._

_If she were to believe the voices she had more power she would have thought possible in a single person and she had no reason to doubt the voices._

_She had restrained herself till that moment because Jim had asked her not to give in her animal side, or so they dubbed it, because he would always be there to protect her. She had listened to him, but now he was lying on the bed, fighting for life yet again (a trait that would recur many times during his Captaincy, even if they didn't know it then) and she wanted nothing more than to punish the sorry excuse of a man that had done this to him._

_She closed her eyes and summoned the voices: when she opened them her pupil had changed to one similar to a cat and with a snarl and a sound of ripping clothes her fangs, claws, wings and tail got out in the open for the first time in more than eight years._

_She knew she had to act fast for more than one reason: she wanted to be next to his twin and be the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes and she didn't really know how long her powers were going to last and she didn't want to risk the cards being turned in Frank's favor._

_She wanted to try out her wings, but the voices told her she could teleport by focusing on the place she wanted to go to and she hadn't time to waste._

_She closed her eyes and when she opened them she was standing in her kitchen and she could perfectly make out the faint snoring coming from the living room where her stepfather laid on the couch, completely wasted._

_Stealthily making her way to the other room Helena tried to figure out the best way to do what she had in mind: a lesson was in order but she didn't want to kill the man. Her inner beast wanted blood, she could sense that, but the young teenager wasn't about to give in. She reached the living room while still thinking but when she laid her eyes on the stinking mass of humanity on the broken couch everything that made her a sweet, caring twelve years old, was drowned by a powerful energy, a force that was and wasn't Helena._

_Even after twenty years she couldn't say what happened in the following five minutes in that house. She had a fairly idea of what she had done when, regaining a grip on her conscience, she opened her eyes on the bloody mess that once had been a man. She was covered in blood, claws unsheathed and dripping blood and even the tail had some sort of blade inside. Emptying her stomach on the carpet she shyly got a little closer, fervently hoping that Frank wasn't dead. Of course she hated the man but that wasn't a good enough motivation for this cold-blood murder. Thankfully he was still breathing and when she double looked the damage inflicted she saw that, even though it had been a bloody work, claw-marks and bites weren't that deep, resembling more a rabid animal attack than a human's work._

_She knew that this was her only chance to free herself and Jim from Frank evil clutches, and she had to play her cards well._

_Tapping into her power again she wished the mess gone and the setting changed. She literally could see sparks and lights dancing around the room, cleaning the blood from the floor and the walls, fixing any piece of furniture that had been smashed in her fury._

_Than the scenery changed and she found herself in the fields in the back of the house. She knew that wolves usually roamed the fields, sometimes getting too close to the houses. They once had been an endangered species and they couldn't be hunted but the safety from hunters had led to an increased breading and their numbers had been steadily growing. That could have been used to her advantage._

_She arranged Frank's body so it looked like it had been savagely attacked by wolves and she added the finishing touches to her make up: a couple of bruise here, a hand mark there, some cracked ribs, a split lip and a black eye. Helena knew that she looked like she had been at the receiving end of a brutal beating._

_Then she screamed._

"I still think that you should have waited at least for me to wake up, before you went on a rampage on Frank! Not that I am ungrateful but what if you had lost control of your powers? You could have lost yourself! I could've lost you!"

"Well you didn't Jimmy, so there is no need to recriminate on what has already been done. Plus at the time neither of us really knew that I risked losing myself in the blood lust, so it's not like you could've told me that!"

Grudgingly the blonde captain conceded the point but Helena could see that he wasn't fooled nor convinced by her though act. She had been scared and later, when she found out the risks, terrified. But the past was in the past and the fact that she was in that cave, reminiscing what had been meant that everything had gone at least as planned if not well.

"You know you never told me what happened later? How did you convince the entire town that Frank was a child-beater? God only knows how hard we had already tried that before!"

It was true. They had tried to advertise the beatings with everyone in town, but nobody had seemed to catch a hint.

"I forced them to acknowledge what they didn't want to see. When they faced a bloody young girl, with hand marks on her, and a drunk man right beside her and another young boy, with the exact same markings in the hospital, well there was no denying that!"

"Yeah well…it was almost not enough!"

The young XO sighed at the memory. It almost hadn't been enough to free them. Some narrow minded imbeciles had stated that the Kirk twins deserved the beatings because they were troublemakers, and literally half the town followed that thought.

Thankfully, by some miracle, the town major believed their story along with the sheriff and Frank had been convicted with 30 years of prison and a restraint order not to come closer than 100 meters to both the twins.

Their mother had been alerted about everything. In what Winona was going to remember as one of the most terrifying and sickening .comm of her entire life. The social assistant had notified her, six months late, that her first born had fled after a particular harsh beating, that she had married a violent drunk who liked to take his frustrations out on her children, and that both her little twins had endured a type of cuddles that definitely wasn't in her book! And all of that under her nose and she didn't even know a thing about it!

Calm and collected she closed the .comm with the social assistant swearing that she was going to catch the first thing directed on Earth, even if that thing happened to be a Klingon ship! After she hit the closing button Commander Winona Kirk broke down.

"I'm sorry George! I'm really sorry! I have been a terrible mother, look what I let happen to our children!"

After the sobs had broken down the fair haired woman got to her feet and swore to everyone listening that she wasn't going to let anything like this happen to her children again!

"You remember when mother disembarked the shuttle?"

"How could I forget that sis? I thought she was going to choke me! Man mother can hug!"

"Oh yes I recollect! I really thought she was mad at us! I mean I had given her husband a good beating!"

"I know, I was scared as well! But then she released us and literally went on to scream at Chris that he absolutely had to find her an assignment planet-side or she was going to sue Starfleet till they didn't have a single credit!"

"That was cool! I don't think I ever saw Chris cowering like this! Not even in front of Nero!"

Laughing both the brothers allowed themselves to relax and remember. The following four months had been the best they had experienced in a while, ruined only by the fact that they couldn't find Sam anywhere. But as all good things have to come to an end, their brief chance at paradise had been cut short.

"Do you remember the day the regent came to take you on Elysia?"

It was a rainy day the one in which the regent had come. She had told Winona that Helena's transformation had been perceived on Elysia Prime and that meant that Helena was ready for her training.

Tears in her eyes Winona nodded her consent. She had always knew that day was to come but she never imagined that soon. Still she had given her word that her child was to be a Queen and she knew she couldn't back off now.

"Yeah…I remember. You literally vanished and I couldn't find you till it was almost too late."

"I never wanted you to go. I thought you were abandoning me as well and it was giving me an ulcer the mere thought you were going away to be trained, in a place where I couldn't reach you or protect you."

But, at the last minute, the twelve year old James, had come out from his hiding to say goodbye to his twin.

"You wanted me to swear that I was going to come back!"

"Oh well, what would you have done? Everybody ran from me, from us, so I was merely trying to ensure your coming back!"

Helena closed her eyes: she remembered the promised made to her twin on that rainy day and she also remembered why she hadn't been able to keep it until more than five years later.

On that day they had promised each other that, one year from that day, they would have found a way to contact each other. That never happened.

Winona hadn't been able to get an assignment Earth-side but they had given her, and Jim, a ticket for Tarsus IV, a colony that had dire need of a Federation who could reside there permanently. For the first months life had been good. But then the famine struck and Kodos came up with a brilliant plan that involved 4000 deaths. When the day in which the twins had to meet came around Jimmy was lying in a hole praying that Kodos' men didn't see him and that the 'fleet arrived soon.


End file.
